What Makes us Civilized?

After long thinking and researching I had come to the conclusion that our societies are civilized and therefore people are happier depending on how we treat the worst among us – those in prisons; how we treat minorities and marginalized groups. I was so proud of that conclusion, but then I was reading Fyodor Dostoevsky and suddenly it was there. He wrote it in 19th century, more than 100 years ago.

‘’The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons,” Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (November 11, 1821, Moscow, Russia – February 9, 1881, Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is considered as one of the best and most influential writers worldwide. Died at 59.

I left with a thought by André Gide, a French author, that goes along those lines:

“Everything to be said has already been said. But since nobody was listening, it has to be said all over again”

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